CHAPTER V - THE OCEAN RIVER

Summary

At length the time came for our departure, and the cordial good wishes that I received from so many, whose acquaintance I had hardly formed, made me feel that I was leaving many good friends behind; it was not therefore without some regrets that, finally turning my back on Shanghai, I stepped on board the steamer ‘Hankow,’ on the night of January 23, 1877.

The steamers that ply on the Yang-Tzŭ-Chiang, between Shanghai and Hankow, are built in the style of the American river-boats; they draw scarcely any water, are very light, and are perhaps the most luxurious steamers in the world.

Baber and I were the only passengers, and so there was plenty of room for us and our luggage, of which there was by no means an inconsiderable quantity.

Before turning into the luxurious cabin I went to see the dog, whose name was ‘Tib,’ but he barked at me as an intruder, and the endearing epithets and biscuits that I lavished upon him producing not the slightest acknowledgment of good-will on his part, I left him to renew his acquaintance at a later date.

This dog had been almost entirely amongst Chinese, and either the appearance or the smell of a European was distasteful to him. The Chinese, who to a European nose always emit a peculiar odour, declare that they can perfectly well distinguish the smell of a European.